For today's episode, we've got "BlackJack"! And it probably says something about me that the first thing I thought of was the card game, doesn't it? I promise I'm not a gambler lol. Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to add some risk in your life, I suppose. Anyway, this is an episode I’ve always had a soft spot for. I don’t know why, that’s just how it’s always been. I just really loved the atmosphere of this episode, the whole mystery aspect that then transitions over to tense thriller type stuff (all comedic of course). I also just thought the writing was pretty clean here. Like take the beginning scene for example, Gary is the one to grab the letter, which covers it in slime, which also causes SpongeBob not to see what the return address for the letter is, which would’ve aided in settling the episode’s main conflict! We love good writing. I also really like that this episode shines some light on the SquarePants family, like this is the first episode to really do that (and coincidentally we get a second one this season in “Stanley S. SquarePants", although one episode does it a lot better than the other, that’s for sure).
Continuing this discussion of the beginning part of the episode, I liked how the letter looked like every cliche ransom note ever with the magazine cut out words. I also think it’s hilarious that SpongeBob has a cousin who went to prison. Okay I’m back on this but again I love that we learn more about SpongeBob’s family in this episode. One thing about this show is that we don’t really know much about characters’ families, which when you think about it is a little weird for a sitcom, as sitcoms are so frequently family-oriented (like where the sitcom is about a family), unless it’s one of those sitcoms about friends in their 20s or something. Anyway, back to the episode, but when BlackJack appeared I had to pause the TV because I recognized that voice…Bender?? Yes, this is my reveal that I’ve watched some of Futurama. But really I recognize John DiMaggio’s Jake the Dog voice more, it’s just that BlackJack sounds more like Blender to me than Jake...at least on first listen.
Okay, back to the episode for real this time. SpongeBob’s little kid design is absolutely adorable, and the flashback makes me laugh which is probably bad because little SpongeBob is being beat up but I’m sorry but it’s hilarious. And then of course I have to say I love how SpongeBob immediately was like “I gotta help my parents”, he’s got a good heart, and I think it’s funny how serious he’s taking the situation.
Once we get to SpongeBob’s parents’ house, we see that mystery element I mentioned earlier moving full steam ahead, and I love it. And of course we see SpongeBob jumping to quite a few...far-fetched conclusions. Like why would BlackJack attack his aunt and uncle? But also BlackJack is not helping his case by leaving these ransom looking letters lmao. When SpongeBob thinks the the cookie is his grandma, I’m dying laughing at this point. This episode comes through the with the dramatics. And SpongeBob himself is really coming through with the hilarious reactions, it’s really all just so great. And then the bit with Uncle Captain Blue is great, this is a good example of a kind of misunderstanding joke that I quite enjoy. Poor SpongeBob really just doing all the work in his uncle’s house lmao. And I love when he finally has enough and just breaks the guy’s record player. And then I love that all Uncle Captain Blue does for SpongeBob is just make him increasingly scared, it’s a great and hilarious way to build tension. The fact that BlackJack lives right next door is hilarious. SpongeBob’s increasingly dramatic daydreams are a true highlight of this whole episode too, but really the humor in this episode is top notch, and you know I love seeing SpongeBob freak out over stuff.
And then of course we get the reveal that there was nothing to be afraid of after all, which releases all this tension that’s been building up and straining on poor SpongeBob. And on us too, though I’ve just been laughing the whole time so, not too much tension lol. But anyway, I like that the explanation for everything makes perfect sense too, and isn’t too far-fetched. I don’t mind bizarre in SpongeBob SquarePants at all, but I think this episode works better where SpongeBob’s interpretation of events is the insane thing compared to the real deal. And then of course we get the final reveal that BlackJack is the “little man”, and there really isn’t anything to be afraid of for SpongeBob…especially because BlackJack is at most a litterer (unless this episode is a critique of the US prison system which does nothing to rehabilitate but actually just traumatizes prisoners, abuses them, and makes them more likely to reoffend? Hey, I'm getting my high horse moment in there. And this is a subject I feel passionately about so...I'm not gonna apologize for saying what I wanted to say).
I really enjoyed rewatching "BlackJack". It's a really funny episode with some great writing to boot, and that's all I really need to put an episode in the "Amazing" tier unless there's some relatively big problem with it, which there isn't in this case. Also, this episode is the last third episode segment we'll be getting for a while, which is sad, because I kind of liked what season 5 did with the varying episode lengths. It also helped me get reviews done quickly, that's for sure lol.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.3/10